Shloka 11
Dadhīci’s Supreme Charity and the Opening of Indra’s War with Vṛtrāsura
श्रीबादरायणिरुवाच एवं कृतव्यवसितो दध्यङ्ङाथर्वणस्तनुम् । परे भगवति ब्रह्मण्यात्मानं सन्नयञ्जहौ ॥ ११ ॥
śrī-bādarāyaṇir uvāca evaṁ kṛta-vyavasito dadhyaṅṅ ātharvaṇas tanum pare bhagavati brahmaṇy ātmānaṁ sannayañ jahau
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī berkata: Dengan tekad demikian, Dadhīci, putera Atharvā, mempersembahkan tubuhnya demi khidmat para dewa. Ia meletakkan jiwanya pada kaki teratai Bhagavān Yang Maha Tinggi lalu meninggalkan tubuh kasar yang terbina daripada lima unsur.
As indicated by the words pare bhagavati brahmaṇy ātmānaṁ sannayan, Dadhīci placed himself, as spirit soul, at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this regard, one may refer to the incident of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s leaving his body, as described in the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.13.55) . Dhṛtarāṣṭra analytically divided his gross material body into the five different elements of which it was made — earth, water, fire, air and ether — and distributed them to the different reservoirs of these elements; in other words, he merged these five elements into the original mahat-tattva. By identifying his material conception of life, he gradually separated his spirit soul from material connections and placed himself at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The example given in this connection is that when an earthen pot is broken, the small portion of the sky within the pot is united with the large sky outside the pot. Māyāvādī philosophers misunderstand this description of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore Śrī Rāmānuja Svāmī, in his book Vedānta-tattva-sāra, has described that this merging of the soul means that after separating himself from the material body made of eight elements — earth, water, fire, air, ether, false ego, mind and intelligence — the individual soul engages himself in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His eternal form ( īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ/ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam ). The material cause of the material elements absorbs the material body, and the spiritual soul assumes its original position. As described by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya-kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’: the constitutional position of the living entity is that he is the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. When one overcomes the material body through cultivation of spiritual knowledge and devotional service, one can revive his own position and thus engage in the service of the Lord.
FAQs
It states that Dadhyaṅ Atharvaṇa, having resolved his duty, fully placed himself in the Supreme Lord and then gave up his body—showing complete surrender (śaraṇāgati) even at the moment of death.
In this narrative context, the sage accepts his duty and relinquishes the body in full God-consciousness, exemplifying sacrifice for a higher divine purpose while remaining surrendered to Bhagavān.
Do your necessary duty with firm resolve, and practice inner surrender—offering your decisions, results, and identity to God—so that even difficult sacrifices are made with devotion rather than fear.